Telegram-herald., 1887-08-31

sir. Francis Gallon. IN The Fortnightly Re-
view, gives an analysis u statistics on good
and bad temper. The statistics embrace de-
Ecriptions Of the tempers OF $751; persons
Good aud had ternpers are again grouped by
Mr.. Gallon into I'VE main classes-mild do
Gle, freLful, violent, masterfGl The three
former predominats IN women, the two latter
ia men. The number OF persons, however. in
the two groups Of good and bad temper. is
about equal; one set Of data making il forty
eight good 70 ffty-two bad and another
forty-seven 70 fity-three. There Is Likewise
little difference between the sexes: bat what
there Is, Is III favor of the genller sex. there
being s. per cent. Of bad tenpers amongst
them and 81 per cent amongst men Alto
gether % per cent were mild in temper, Is
per cent. doeile, - per cent fretful, - per
cent. violent and per cent masterful
IL is curious to note how well the number of
persons recorded a. good. bad or neutral IN
temper comedies with what theoretical con
s:ierations demand. OF l. Sol persons, SCI
airs described SIS good, $40 as bad. and 7O5 as
neutral most OF the last not being described
at ALI; that is, these observers unconsciously
divide persons into four equal classes-good
tempered, bad tempered, not decidedly either
but with moro Of tendency to good, and
similarly towards the bad. This shows that
the line Of average temper was placed where
it belongs. with equal deviations in either di-
rectiOn. Another mark Of reliability is to be-
found in the fact that near relatives ara
spoken of as bad tempered quite a. unreServ-
edly as more distant ones.
Whether temper Is hereditary is a question
not easily answered; but when asked of
couples in which both parents are good tenn
psred, or both parents bad tempered, the
answer is enphaticallv in the affirmative
Thirty per cent OF the children Of the former
are spoken of IS good tempered, and only 10
per cent. AZ bad; while, with regard 70 the
children OF tho bad tempered. only 4 per
cent. are good tempered anu - per cent bad
Similarly. by "a method necessarily somewhat
arbitrary aud not easily described, Ir Gal
ton concludes that in the ancestry OF good
tempered persons. three persons OF good tenn
per VIII occur 20 two Of bad temper, and
vice versa in the ancestry of a bad tempered
person Apart from direct heredity, edu-
cation and circumstances evidently affect
temper A large class OF such influences are
about as favorable 70 good as to bal temper,
and so tend 10 produce variety Of tempers
Another class OF Influences, typically illus
trased in tho case Of a not unusually docile
woman becoming very docile as the wife of a
Fnasscrful husband, tends 20 divide persons
land this applies particularly to the offsprine)
into distinct groups; while the effect or a
pTepoteDt ancestor may be working 70 con-
time one kind Of temper through many
members Of the family. Mr.. Cation finds
that. in fourteen cases Of forty-nine. these
domestic and social influences are too weak
to overcome the secondary Influences in
course of heredity, either oy the prepotent
temper Of one member or the general con-
Currence of temper in several Finally, it
may he noted, that, though so important and
readily observed trait. temper is not a
prime consideration in marriage. men OF each
kind Of temper about as frequently choosing
| q wife OF one temper as of another